Tamper-proof top closure for valved pressure-loaded containers



Feb. 20, 1968 H. OSROW 3,369,712

TAMPER-PROOF TOP CLOSURE FDR VALVED PRESSURE-LOADED CONTAINERS FiledSept. 25, 1966 F IG.

W m s 0 D m m H wxzw wmsvra WW flTTO/P/VEYS United States Patent3,369,712 TAMPER-PROOF TUP CLOSURE FOR VALVED PRESSURE-LOADED CONTAINERSHarold Osrow, Mineola, N.Y., assignor to Osrow Products Company, Inc.,Glen Cove, N.Y. Filed Sept. 23, 1%6, Ser. No. 581,490 9 Claims. (Cl.222182) This invention relates to a tamper-proof top closure for valvedpressure-loaded containers.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a new and improvedtamper proof top closure for valved pressure loaded containers whereinthe condition of the closure indicates whether or not the same has beenremoved while in a retail store and a portion of the contents of thecontainer has been discharged.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tamper proof topclosure for valved pressure loaded containers of the character describedhaving a portion thereof tightly secure, so as to be effectivelypermanently attached, to the container, a portion thereof adapted to beseparated and removed from the container and a plurality of legsinterconnecting these two portions, the legs being as strong as theother parts of the cap so that they cannot be broken without the use oftools, but, furthermore, being of such construction that they areseverable by the use of a cutting instrument whereby persons bent onmischief, only with instruments and difficulty and not without detectioncan remove the closure, discharge the contents of the container, andthen re place the closure.

It 'is still a further object of the invention to provide a tamper prooftop closure for valved pressure loaded containers of the characterdescribed which is adapted to be opened by a household knife but whichcan not be opened by hand manipulation alone, which can be openedreadily by persons with no mechanical skill such as housewives and whichthough requiring the use of a knife imposes no danger during the openingprocess.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tamper proof topclosure for valved pressure loaded containers of the character describedwhich is adapted to be formed as one integral piece by conventionalmolding techniques, which can be manufactured by mass productionmethods, which is attractive in appearance when in its final location asthe closure for a container, and which will not appreciably increase theper unit price of such closures.

It is another object of the invention to provide a container and closureof the character described wherein the contents of the container is aspecific color, for example a paint, that it is desired to readilyidentify, wherein the closure is molded from a plastic of the same colorfor retail shelf identification and wherein the por tion of the closurethat is tightly secured to the container is emplaced around the exteriorof the chime that connects the top wall to the barrel of the containerso that after removal and even loss of the top portion of the closurethe remaining portion serves to identify the color of the paint.

Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the tamper proof top closure hereinafter described and ofwhich the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tamper proof top closure locatedat and tightly secured to the top 3,36%,712 Patented Feb. 20, 1968 ICCof a pressure loaded valved container and before severance thereof;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged axial cross-sectional view of the closure and thetop portion of the container, the same being taken substantially alongthe line 2-2 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken perpendicular to the axis of thecontainer and substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view of the container and closure of FIG. 1 in the processof having the closure severed; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the closure separatedfrom the container.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the invention comprisesaclosure l0 tightly secured to a conventional valved pressurizedcontainer 12. The container will be briefly described for the purpose ofcompleteness.

The container includes a cylindrical hollow elongated barrel 14 oftenmade of sheet steel. The barrel has a bottom wall which is joined to thelower end of the barrel 14- by .a chime 16. The container 12 further hasa dome shaped annular top wall 18 which is joined at its outer peripheryto the upper end of the barrel 14 by an outwardly and upwardlyprotruding closuremounting chime 20. As will be subsequently more fullydescribed, the upper chime is completely hidden from view by a ringportion of the top closure.

A circular ferrule 24 is located in a central opening of the top walland carries a dispensing valve 26, which includes a dispensing head 28above the top wall, a valve body 3t) situated immediately below the headand below the ferrule, and an elongated siphon tube 32 which runs fromthe body to the bottom of the container. The valve is spring-biased to aclosed condition and is opened by depression of the head by the fingersof the user. A chime 31 joins the ferrule to the top wall. As shown inFIG. 5 said chime 31 protrudes outwardly and upwardly from the openingin the top wall.

The container carries within the barrel any desirable liquid medium tobe dispensed, as for example medicaments, paints or other finishingmaterials, soap, insecticide, or cosmetic preparations. The containeralso carries a gaseous volatile propellant kept under pressure which,when the valve is opened, dispenses the medium out through the valve.

The closure 10 of the invention is formed from any strong and durable,flexible, resilient plastic material soft enough, due to itsflexibility, so that it can be cut by the cutting edge of a kitchenknife, e.g. a paring knife, applied under hand pressure. Plastics suchas polyethylene, polypropylene, natural and synthetic rubber,polyvinylchloride and cellulose acetate butyrate are suitable for thematerials of which the closure is fabricated.

The closure includes, as a first portion, a circular tubular cap 34, asa second portion, a ring 36 and, as a third portion axially orientedlegs 38 interconnecting the aforesaid first and second portions.

The cap 34 has a flat top wall 40 which is circular in plan and whichlies in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the barrel 14. The cap 34further includes a cylindrical continuous side wall 42 which is in onepiece with the top wall and which has a diameter substantially the sameas the diameter of the barrel 14.

The ring 36 is located at the lower boundary of the closure 10 andincludes a pair of opposed spaced generally parallel walls, viz, anupper wall 44 and a lower wall 46. An intermediate wall 48 connects theupper wall 44 and lower wall 46, and said three walls define on theinside of the ring, an inwardly facing circumferential groove 50 havinga central axis coaxial with the axis of the barrel. The outermost upperchime 20 between the barrel and the top wall is effectively permanentlyseated in the groove 56 defined by the ring 36.

For ease of assembly, the lower wall 46 of the ring may have its lowerinner corner chamfered as at 52 so that the ring can be more easilyforced downwardly over the chime 20. The material of the ring issufiiciently flexible and resilient to permit the lower wall 46 toexpand in order to slip over the chime and then snap back into placewhen said lower wall has cleared the bottom edge of the chime. The ringis thereby tightly secured to the chime so that it is extremelydifiicult, and impossible for persons of ordinary strength, to removethe ring from the chime; and, indeed, it is intended that the ringremain permanently in place around the chime. Optionally, the ring maybe bonded to the chime as by the use of an appropriate adhesive, andother expedients may be employed to tightly secure the pressure ring tothe chime, such as hot crimping, heat and pressure sealing.

The legs 38 are squat and broad so as not to be frangible andinterconnect the cap 34 with the ring 36, it being appreciated that allof the three aforesaid components are molded as a single integral unit.The legs hold the cap and the ring in axially spaced relation. Thethickness (radial dimension) of each of the legs is desirably uniformthroughout and the same as the thickness of the side wall 42. The legsmay be thinner in radial dimension than the side wall thickness, butpreferably are not thicker. The legs are never made thin enough to befrangible, i.e. rupturable by manual manipulation of the closure.Further, the legs have a circumferential dimension which is a largenumber of times greater than the thickness of the legs, e.g. 4 to 20times greater. The legs run in a direction parallel to the axis of thecontainer and are alike. Moreover, the legs desirably are at the sameradial distance from the axis of the container as is the side wall ofthe cap. As indicated previously the thickness and width(circumferential dimension) of the legs is sufficient so that theycannot be broken by manually twisting, pulling or flexing of the caprelative to the ring.

The legs are uniformly spaced apart by like circumferential slots 54.The slots pass through the side wall 42 and each has a circumferentiallength about three times the circumferential length of a leg 38. In apreferred form of the invention, there are four uniformly spaced legs,the centers of the legs being spaced 90 apart. There are consequentlyfour slots, each leg being flanked by a pair of slots. It will be notedthat when the closure is on the top of the container before the legs aresevered, the legs and the slots lie in a plane immediately above thechime 21).

In commercial and suitable embodiments of the invention, the legs have athickness of from between about 0.03 to 0.05, the legs are /2" incircumferential length, are in axial height and the slots are 1 /2 incircumferential dimension.

The closure further includes an internal cylindrical skirt 56 having itstop edge fixed to the interior surface of the top wall 40 and beingcoaxial with the axis of the closure 10. Desirably the skirt is moldedin one piece with the remainder of the closure. The lower edge of theskirt 56 surrounds and frictionally engages the inner chime 31. Theseating of the chime 31 within the lower end of the skirt 56 helps tostabilize the closure on the top of the container 12 prior to removal ofthe cap 34.

The container with the closure secured thereon is marketed in thiscondition through retail outlets. Appropriate advertising matter will becarried on the container to make the purchaser aware of the uniquefeatures of the closure. A person examining the closure can immediatelyvisually perceive that the closure has not been opened, if this is infact the condition of the closure. The assurance given by the unbrokencondition of the closure makes the purchaser confident that no one hasaccidentally or intentionally discharged any part of the contents of thecontainer. Thus the purchaser will have confidence both in the productand in the retail outlet at which the purchase is being made. Moreover,the

closure itself tends to discourage mischief because opening of the samerequires the use of an instrument having a cutting edge, which the greatmajority of persons are not likely to have readily at hand. It may beadded that a modest discouragement is often sufficient to stop unwantedtampering in retail outlets. If, for example, all that had to be donewas to remove a cap and push a valve, many women might try a hair sprayor a perfume. The necessity for obtaining and using a cutting instrumentto open the closure of the invention effectively stops the greatmajority of such undesirable samplings, yet does not hinder the readyremoval of the closure in the home or by the shop owner. Of course,there is also no way that the closure may be easily removed tocircumvent the necessity of severing said legs.

Once the purchaser has seen that the closure is unruptured and that noone has tampered with the container and has purchased the same, he mayquickly and easily open the container at home by severing each of thelegs with the assistance of a cutting instrument having a cutting edge,as best shown in FIG. 4. Ordinary kitchen knives serve this functionwell. One convenient technique of opening the closure, which techniquewill be readily comprehended by purchasers, is to place the containerwith its cylindrical wall on a fiat surface. Then the knife edge isapplied to any one leg and stroked so as to slice the leg like a loaf ofbread. Each leg is similarly sliced in turn. Once all of the legs arecut, the cap can be removed from the container, with the inner skirt 56sliding off of the chime 31 (see FIG. 5). This of course exposes thedispensing head 28 for use. The ring remains permanently in place on thechime 20. When it is desired to replace the cap, the cap is located sothat the inner skirt telescopes over the chime 31 and due to thefrictional engagement therebetween the cap remains in place. When theclosure is initially installed the lower edge of the inner skirt isspaced from the top wall 18 thereby permitting a deeper telescopinginterconnection between the skirt 56 and the inner chime 31 if the cutlegs are aligned with the slots 54 after severance of the legs.

If the container holds a quantity of a colored material such as paint,it is desirable in accordance with the invention to color the closure 10the same as the color of the paint so that the closure identifies the.paint. The ring, having been made in one piece with the other parts ofthe closure, is of course also the same color of the paint. Since thering is permanently attached to the container even after the closure issevered, it serves as a permanent visual indication of the paint color,even if the cap is lost or misplaced or mixed up with the caps of otherclosures.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a tamper proof top closurefor valved pressure loaded containers which achieves the several objectsof this invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions ofpractical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention andas various changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, it is tobe understood that all matter herein described or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a pressurized container and a tamper proof closuretherefor, said container including a hollow barrel having a centralaxis, a bottom wall closing the lower end of the barrel and a top wallclosing the upper end of the barrel, an annular outwardly and upwardlyprotruding chime coaxial with said axis and joining the outer peripheryof the top wall to the upper end of the barrel, and a manuallycontrollable dispensing valve having a dispensing head carried by andlocated centrally above the top wall, said closure comprising (a) ahollow cap, the cap including a tubular wall of uniform radialthickness, a top wall closing the upper end of the tubular wall, theother end of the tubular wall being open,

(b) a ring coaxial with the axis of the tubular wall and situatedadjacent the lower end of the cap,

(c) means tightly securing the ring to the chime with the externalsurface of the chime covered by the ring and the external surface of thering being exposed,

(d) a plurality of circumferentially spaced squat broad legs runningparallel to the axis of the barrel, interconnecting the cap and the ringand retaining the cap and ring in axially spaced relation, each leghaving a circumferential dimension several times greater than thethickness of the leg, each pair of circumferentially adjacent legsdefining therebetween a circumferential through slot, and

(e) the closure covering the dispensing valve and the top wall and beinga one-piece integral unit formed from a flexible plastic whereby thelegs are severable by the cutting edge of a household knife applied byhand pressure thereby to enable removal of the cap from the top of thecontainer and exposure of the dispensing valve.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the top wall of thecontainer includes an inner top chime coaxial with the axis of thecontainer and the cap includes a cylindrical open-bottomed skirtfrictionally engageable and telescopable about the inner chime.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the material of theclosure is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene,polypropylene, natural and synthetic rubber, polyvinylchloride andcellulose acetate butyrate.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are at least fourlike legs and four like slots, each leg being flanked by a differentpair of slots.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the circumferentialdimension of a leg is about /3 of the circumferential dimension of aslot.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the container isadapted to hold colored material, and wherein the closure is of a colorthe same as the color of the colored material so that the ringpermanently identifies the color of the material even when the cap ismisplaced.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs are alike andeach leg has a circumferential dimension of about four to twenty timesits radial thickness.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs and thetubular wall lie at the same radius from the axis of the barrel and thelegs have a radial thickness not greater than the thickness of thetubular wall.

9. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein each leg has at least astrip running the entire axial length of the leg having a radialthickness the same as the thickness of the tubular Wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1964 Young 222-182 X 2/ 1965Kitterman 22027 X

1. IN COMBINATION, A PRESSURIZED CONTAINER AND A TAMPER PROOF CLOSURETHEREFOR, SAID CONTAINER INCLUDING A HOLLOW BARREL HAVING A CENTRALAXIS, A BOTTOM WALL CLOSING THE LOWER END OF THE BARREL AND A TOP WALLCLOSING THE UPPER END OF THE BARREL, AN ANNULAR OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLYPROTRUDING CHIME COAXIAL WITH SAID AXIS AND JOINING THE OUTER PERIPHERYOF THE TOP WALL TO THE UPPER END OF THE BARREL, AND A MANUALLYCONTROLLABLE DISPENSING VALVE HAVING A DISPENSING HEAD CARRIED BY ANDLOCATED CENTRALLY ABOVE THE TOP WALL, SAID CLOSURE COMPRISING (A) AHOLLOW CAP, THE CAP INCLUDING A TUBULAR WALL OF UNIFORM RADIALTHICKNESS, A TOP WALL CLOSING THE UPPER END OF THE TUBULAR WALL, THEOTHER END OF THE TUBULAR WALL BEING OPEN, (B) A RING COAXIAL WITH THEAXIS OF THE TUBULAR WALL AND SITUATED ADJACENT THE LOWER END OF THE CAP,(C) MEANS TIGHTLY SECURING THE RING TO THE CHIME WITH THE EXTERNALSURFACE OF THE CHIME COVERED BY THE RING AND THE EXTERNAL SURFACE OF THERING BEING EXPOSED, (D) A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED SQUATBROAD LEGS RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THE BARREL, INTERCONNECTINGTHE CAP AND THE RING AND RETAINING THE CAP AND RING IN AXIALLY SPACEDRELATION, EACH LEG HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIAL DIMENSION SEVERAL TIMESGREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE LEG, EACH PAIR OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLYADJACENT LEGS DEFINING THEREBETWEEN A CIRCUMFERENTIALLY THROUGH SLOT,AND (E) THE CLOSURE COVERING THE DISPENSING VALVE AND THE TOP WALL ANDBEING A ONE-PIECE INTEGRAL UNIT FORMED FROM A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC WHEREBYTHE LEGS ARE SEVERABLE BY THE CUTTING EDGE OF A HOUSEHOLD KNIFE APPLIEDBY HAND PRESSURE THEREBY TO ENABLE REMOVAL OF THE CAP FROM THE TOP OFTHE CONTAINER AND EXPOSURE OF THE DISPENSING VALVE.